This invention relates to the composition and preparation of an antimicrobial agent which may be used in dental preparations, surgical and other soaps, various other topical preparations, injectable medicines, and other drug applications. In particular the invention relates to compositions containing mineral acid salts of benzophenanthridine alkaloids mixed with a metal salt.
One of the important sources of sanguinarine is a perennial herb native to North America called Sanguinaria canadensis Linne (Family: Papvaraceae) commonly known as blood root, red root, puccoon etc. The plant contains benzophenanthridine alkaloids including sanguinarine, chelerythrine, and several others. The major alkaloids present are sanguinarine and chelerythrine. The eighth edition of the Merck Index lists the alkaloids as sanguinarine, chelerythrine, protopine and homochelidonine. The pure chemicals sanguinarine, chelerythrine, and other benzophenanthridine alkaloids can be isolated from other plants besides Sanguinaria. Also, they are available, even though very rarely, from some chemical supply houses. Semi-purified forms of the alkaloids are commercially available, and these are generally referred to as sanguinarine nitrate and sanguinarine sulfate. These "salts" are the salts of the mixed alkaloids of the plant Sanguinaria: mainly sanguinarine, chelerythrine, and protopine. While few references can be found in the literature regarding the usage of any of the pure benzophenanthridine alkaloids, plants containing such compounds have been used for medical purposes for quite some time for a wide variety of ailments.
The principle use of sanguinarine up to recently was a stimulant expectorant to cough syrups containing "sanguinarine nitrate".
The use of sanguinarine with thiophosphoric acid in various animal and human neoplasms is shown in French patents, number 70-22029 and 2,152,972.
The alkaloid sanguinarine in solution has been shown to have some antifungal and antiprotozoan properties. The sanguinarine is applied as an emulsion topically to fungal infections. The antibacterial activity of sanguinarine has been found to vary with the attached radicals, and various salts of sanguinarine have been shown to have some activity. The hydrochloride and the sulfate salts have been found to have some activity against certain bacteria at various concentrations. Sanguinarine nitrate is reported to have some weak bacteriostatic action on various types of bacteria.